The King of Lucis
by StoryMakerr014
Summary: During the signing of the peace treaty between the nations of Lucis and Niflheim, a betrayal leads to the stealing of the last Crystal. Now on the run, Prince Noctis and his friends scrambles to reclaim his birthright. But when a mysterious hermit warns them of a much greater threat, the band of brothers found themselves caught up in an ancient myth of gods and demons. Reboot fic.


**_PROLOGUE_**

 **AN OATH FULFILLED**

* * *

 _Earth and lightning_

 _Fire and ice_

 _Wind and water_

 _The wielder must not falter_

 _A dragon who slashes_

 _A horseman who dashes_

 _A serpent of the sea_

 _A hound only a true hunter can see_

 _The demon heeds the king_

 _The siren is ready to sing_

 _The giant carries the world in his shoulders_

 _Chasing the monster whose horns smolders_

 _Storm the kind hermit commands_

 _Winter the beautiful priestess grants_

 _Life the immortal bird gives_

 _Hope the impenetrable fortress leaves_

 _The last samurai fights_

 _To help the heir in his flight_

 _The One True King must find the Ring_

 _So salvation he may bring_

 _Seek he must the guardians_

 _Power of his ancestors protected by the custodians_

 _To combat the threat born of the Endless Night_

 _Awaken must he the fearless Knights_

 _Oaths of the Twelve must be uphold_

 _Vows of the Thirteen taken to hold_

 _The Chosen aided by his brothers_

 _Giving up their lives in exchange of others_

 _For the hour when the Light will fade is at hand_

 _Thus against Darkness humanity is to make its final stand_

 _\- Prophecy of the Chosen King, Page XV, The Book of Cosmology_

* * *

"Fall back! Everyone, fall back to the bridge and regroup!"

It was a command, but one that Noctis hated more than anything else. Retreat was not in his dictionary, much less giving up in battle. Sadly, it seemed the only way to salvage what remained of his troops.

He looked around the battlefield. Many Lucians lay dead, ripped apart by rampaging Daemons. A lot of them he considered as friends; loyal soldiers who had gladly laid down their lives for Lucis. The ground was painted red by the blood they had shed, their corpses strewn across the field, staring up into the dark sky with dull, lifeless eyes.

It tore his heart to see his subjects in such a state, but he knew grief would not bring back the dead. The only thing he could do now was to make sure the living ones stay alive.

That is, if they could survive the hour.

The Daemon horde was larger than they had initially expected. Scouts had reported them to be a thousand strong. But when they had arrived, it turned out to be thrice the size. Unfortunately, he had only brought a couple of hundreds of troops and the Kingsglaive, anticipating a relatively easy fight. Boy, was he so wrong.

Needless to say, the fight turned quickly south after the first five minutes.

Upon his command, though, the Lucians immediately obeyed. He didn't need to repeat the order twice since every men and women knew there was no more room for argument. As experienced as they were, they knew a hopeless battle when they see one.

He saw Nyx Ulric in the distance, slashing his way toward him while barking orders at his earpiece. Battered and bloodied, he was probably one of the few in the platoon who was still in control of himself, not an ounce of fear or despair showing on his already haggard face.

As Noctis watched him waded through a group of Daemons and slashed at them with his sword, a large shadow suddenly loomed behind the Glaive. With a growl that shook the ground, a Behemoth reared on its hind legs and raised its left paw, ready to strike down the soldier. However, Ulric noticed it a little too late and spun around as quickly as he could to deflect the incoming blow.

Unfortunately, the leg was already starting to descend.

Fortunately, Noctis was faster.

He threw Aqesiro straight at the monster's face and watched it struck the forehead with a satisfying crunch. Then the last king of Lucis disappeared in a blue flash, only to materialized a second later right between the monster's eyes.

Gripping the hilt of the sword, Noctis summoned Rhogomyniad and with a mighty war cry stabbed the lance through the Daemon's right eye, burying it deep to the skull. A roar of pain and rage followed quickly, and the behemoth toppled to its side. Before it fell, Noctis pulled his weapons free then jumped off, landing in front of a grinning Nyx.

"Thanks for the assist, Your Majesty!" the Kingsglaive saluted. The Behemoth trashed wildly for a moment, then finally lay still and dissolved in a puddle of black smoke.

"Anytime," Noctis grunted, panting from exhaustion. Despite his young age of twenty-four, using Armiger Arsenal made him feel like he was already forty-eight. Such was the price for using the power of kings, sadly, though it was not this bad when the world was not yet covered in eternal darkness. The Crystal should be halting the rapid aging, but since it was slowly losing its influence, the side effects were gradually getting stronger. Even now, strands of grey marred the pitch black color of his hair.

"How many do we still have left?" Noctis asked Nyx once he could finally speak without gasping for breath.

The Kingsglaive general suddenly looked grim as he said, "No more than a hundred, sir. At least 30 from the Kingsglaive."

Noctis bit back a curse. A hundred against what, two thousand? This was impossible! Even with the Glaives' and his powers, he doubt if they could survive. If only his friends were here, but Gladiolus and the others were away on another mission.

Still, he had some tricks up left up in his sleeves. If he could lure the Daemons on the bridge, they could use the narrow space to their advantage.

"Have the men regroup at the center of the bridge," Noctis pointed toward the spot a thousand yards in the distance. "Tell them to form a wall to block the path. We'll use the tight space to stem the flow of Daemons."

"What about you, sir?" Nyx asked.

Noctis briefly glanced at the Ring of the Lucii in his left middle finger, then said with a shrug, "I'll hold off the Daemons while you guys retreat."

Unsurprisingly, Nyx's reaction was explosive. "I don't want to be rude to you, Your Majesty, but you damn well know you cannot do that!"

Noctis flinched at the Glaive's thunderous voice, but he simply waved a hand. "No need to worry, General Ulric. I can manage."

"'You can manage'?" Nyx said in disbelief. "My lord, you almost killed yourself two weeks ago after summoning the Dragon!"

With a grimace, Noctis let that slide. Nyx got a point. He still remembered how weak he had been after Bahamut descended from the sky, so weak that he was confined in bed for five days and had to be spoonfed by Iris. It took him all his effort and stremgth to even lead this defense, as well as to convince his commanders to allow him to fight.

But what choice did they have? Humanity was barely holding the line against the Daemons.

"Look, Nyx," Noctis sighed, "I know what I'm doing. I cannot let any more of my soldiers fall."

"We cannot let you fall either," Nyx retorted. "Better we die defending you."

"And if you guys die, who will defend the people?" Noctis managed a faint smile. "Me? It seems your sacrifices would be pointless then."

"At least you will live longer," the general muttered.

"Which would change nothing," Noctis shook his head. "No, my friend. It's better this way." Then he clasped Nyx in the right shoulder and chuckled. "Do not worry, general. I won't die. My father would kill me if I did."

Despite himself, Noctis saw his friend smile a little. "My lord..." he murmured. He was about to say more, but he was suddenly interrupted by a horse whining loudly in the distance.

At once, the entire battlefield went silence. The sound was like a spell of terror, and even the Daemons looked around in growing alarm. The whine seemed to have come from the other side of the bridge, near the city's entrance.

Then they heard the unmistakable sound of hooves.

 _Clip, clop. Clip, clop._

Slow at first, but increasing in speed by the minute. From the sounds alone, Noctis deduced two things; that it was indeed coming from the city's entrance, and the horse was big.

Really big.

"Your Majesty," Nyx suddenly whispered and tapped him on the left shoulder with a trembling finger, then pointed.

Across the other side of the bridge, out of the shadows, a horseman emerged. Clad in gleaming silver armor with a flowing blood red cape and a horned helmet, he wielded a wicked curved sword in his rightï hand. His horse, a white stallion pawing the ground in agitation, was almost as large as a behemoth, and also armored much like its master. Its golden eyes burned with fury, and its nostrils released a puff of smoke everytime it snorted.

For a moment, the horseman was still, like a sentinel standing guard over his territory. Suddenly, lighting flashed and illuminated his form in sharp contrast. As if on cue, the horse reared up on its hind legs and let out a loud bray that reverbrated across the landscape. And when its front hooves finally came down, the armored knight spurned his steed forward, first in a slow trot, then a full, thunderous gallop.

The Lucians roared and cheered at once, and the Daemons hissed and snarled. Onward the horseman charged, his focus set on the horde of monsters swarming just several dozen yards behind Noctis. Though there was no sun, his armor shone as if it possessed an inner radiance, bright enough to keep the darkness at bay and give hope to everyone that despaired.

"Nyx?" Noctis said quietly as he watched the shining knight approached.

The Kingsglaive general couldn't speak for a second, staring with wide eyes at the horseman. "Uh, yes?" he finally said after a while.

Noctis glanced at him and smiled. "You may want to get out of the way. Unless you want to see your own body collapse in front of you."

It took the general only a quarter of a second to realized what his king meant, and he cursed as he dove sideways and out of the path of the charging mounted knight. Noctis merely backed away, his gaze locked onto the approaching form of their saviour.

The knight soon swept past them in a blur. But just as he passed, his eyes briefly made contact with Noctis. A silent conversation followed, and the king of Lucis expressed his gratitude with a quick nod. Then the horseman was gone, charging into the ranks of Daemons.

* * *

 **Hello, and welcome to my first ever FFXV fanfic. :)**

 **Now, I haven't played the actual game itself. But I've watched Kingslaive, Brotherhood, and a playthrough of the game. The story... well, it's not really bad. And yet, it could have been more. I feel like it lacked more depth, though the overall theme was great, and the ending was heartbreaking.**

 **So I decided to write a reboot. One that will hopefully address the issue of the game's plot. And as you've read, I have already diverged greatly from canon by keeping Nyx alive. How that has happened, you'll have to find out. :)**

 **I'll be covering Noctis' childhood in this story, so we may not yet reach the prologue in future updates. Obviously, there will be a lot of changes as** **I'll be writing this from the ground up, deconstructing everything and rebuilding the plot. Hopefully, again, it will address the problems in canon while introducing new plot elements.**

 **Well, that should be it. I might be able to post another update before this year ends. But no promises. XD**

 **Please Read & Review!**

 **Until next time!**


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